Cyril belongs to the Elapid family and is of the cobra genus Naja. Cyril is 2.5 meters in length. He has an expandable hood, which he extends by spreading the ribs in his neck beneath his elastic skin. He is venomous and able to inject neurotoxins through his fangs, or spit his venom into approaching enemies' eyes.

In The Sims: Makin' Magic, Sims can use the snake charming basket at a Magic Town community lot. The basket will be manned by Nagganaste, who will charm Cyril, the snake. Sims can charm the snake for MagiCoins, and the amount they receive is determined by their creativity skill.

Sims can buy it from a general store merchant in the Al Simhara Market, or players can use the buydebug cheat to access it in buy mode. There are four recolorable channels on the object. The Snake Charming Basket allows Sims to build up the snake charmingsecret skill. This skill goes to a level of 10, affecting both the quality of the music and chances of getting bitten by the snake. When Sims are proficient in this skill they can kiss the snakes they charm. Eventually they can buy a King Cobra to add to the basket, this replaces the usual snake with a bigger cobra. Kissing this cobra can cure the Mummy's Curse.

Sims can also charm the snake into other Sims' clothes. During this, that Sim will dance around as though in discomfort, but will never die. This action can be canceled by the player, and when it is, the Sim whose clothes the snake was charmed into will walk over and argue with the Sim who did the charming. This action can also be stopped by sending the Sim doing the charming home.

Sims can put the basket in their inventories and use it to Play for Tips.